Pick-hammer auto body tool



Feb. 26, 1957 F. J. PINKERTON, SR 2,782,665

PICK-HAMMER AUTO BODY TOOL.

Filed April 15, 1955 INVENTOR. FRANK J. PINKERTON, SR. BY

ms ATTORNEY United States Patent PICK-HAMMER AUTO BODY TOOL Frank J.Pinkerton, Sr., Frenchtown, N. J.

Application April 15, 1955, Serial No. 501,556 1 Claim. (CI. 81-15) Thisinvention relates to an auto body tool, and particularly to a tooladapted for straightening dents in the doors of auto bodies, and otherareas of confined working space.

When the metallic body of an automobile is dented as a result of an autoaccident or similar collision with a foreign body, it is necessary topound out the dents from the side of the body opposite from which thedent was received, in most cases. This has been customarily done in thepast by use of hammers and mallets. And while these instruments arefully satisfactory for use in straightening dented fenders, hoods, andother large surfaces where the working space is ample, it has been foundthat their use in constricted areas such as the car door is extremelylimited.

The ordinary car door is provided on the inside with an inside panelprovided with inspection holes, normally numbering two or three suchholes. These holes in turn are provided with cover plates, and theentire panel and cover plates are covered with fabric. When such a dooris dented from the outside, it is necessary to remove the fabric andcover plates and to pound out the dents from the inside of the door byinserting a pounding tool into said holes. Due to the limited size ofthese inspection holes, the use of a large hammer or mallet as is usedin pounding out dents in fenders is extremely inconvenient, evenimpossible in some cases.

With the above in mind, it is the basic objective of the presentinvention to provide an auto body tool for pounding out dents in areasof restricted working space.

It is another object of this invention to provide an auto body toolparticularly adapted for use in straightening dents in the doors ofautomobiles.

It is still another object of this invention to provide an auto bodytool which is extremely simple in construction and which can be used topound out dents in areas of most limited working space.

A still further object of the present invention is to provide an autobody tool in the nature of a pick-hammer, having a small head withprojecting pick portions.

These objects, together with other objectives and ad vantages to bederived from the present invention, will at once become apparent from areference to the following detailed description and the accompanyingdrawings, wherein similar numerals refer to similar parts throughout theseveral views.

Figure 1 is a perspective view of a car door as viewed from the insidethereof, showing the inside panel with the fabric and cover platesremoved so as to expose the inspection holes for straightening dents inthe door.

Figure 2 is a perspective view of the pick-hammer auto body tool of thepresent invention.

Figure 3 is an enlarged side elevational view of the pick-hammer autobody tool of Fig. 2' illustrating the disposition of the points on thepick head thereof.

2,782,,665 Patented Feb. 26, 1957 Figure 4 is a top plan view of thepick-hammer auto body tool of Fig. 3.

Referring to the drawings, and particularly to Figs. 2-4, inclusive, thepick-hammer auto body tool of the present invention is shown therein asconsisting of a metallic cylindrical rod 10 approximately 18 inches inlength and preferably made from a heavy metal such as steel or the like.The end 11 of said rod is substantially blunt; while the opposite endthereof is provided with a pick head 12. Referring to Figs. 3 and 4, itwill be seen that the pick head 12 has an upturned blunted point 13extending outwardly therefrom and a diametrically opposed second point14 which extends outwardly therefrom and lies in the plane of thediametric axis of the cylindrical rod 10. The point 13 is upturned forthe purpose of straightening dents and tiny crevices in areas of shortradius of curvature and limited working space; while the point 14 ismaintained in the plane of the diametric axis of the rod for use inareas which are of a larger radius of curvature or substantially flat.

It is preferred that the rod be made from a heavy metal so as to weighin the nature of five pounds or more so that the tool will facilitatethe pounding out of dents by virtue of its own weight, a mere tapagainst the dented surface being required.

In using the present tool, the pick head 12 is inserted into one of theinspection holes 15 in the inside panel 16 of a conventional automobiledoor D as shown in Fig. 1. Then, with a slight swinging motion, the pickhead 12 is brought into contact With the dented surface, with the points13 or 14 pounding out the dent from the rearward side thereof in theconventional manner.

It is obvious from the above description and the pictorialrepresentation of the present tool as shown by the drawings that thepresent tool is extremely useful in areas of limited working space. Itis also seen that in view of the narrow structure of the pick head 12and the points 13 and 14 extending outwardly therefrom, that said headmay be inserted into extremely confined locations. And furthermore, dueto the weight of the present tool, a minimum of effort is required bythe user to pound out a dent, the tool contributing greatly to thisfunction by virtue of its own weight.

Although the present discussion of this invention has been limited tothe above-described preferred embodiment, variations thereof arepossible without departing from the spirit of the invention. It istherefore not intended that the invention be limited to the particularembodiment disclosed, but only to the inventive concept as defined bythe appended claim.

What is claimed is:

An auto body repair tool of the nature of a hammer comprising anelongated cylindrical metallic rod of substantial weight having a flatend substantially normal to the axis of said rod, and a blunted pointextending laterally outwardly from said body at said flat end and beyondthe plane thereof, said blunted point being defined by an outer roundedsurface that merges in with the cylindrical surface of the rod and aninwardly inclined end surface that merges in with said flat end.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS298,650 Yingling et a1. May 13, 1884 1,122,599 Johnson Dec. 29, 19142,485,489 Ferguson Oct. 18, 1949 2,518,073 Sargent Aug. 8, 19502,641,946 Phepps June 16, 1953 2,723,576 Molnar Nov. 15, 1955

